The resignations of seven Brazilian cabinet ministers over corruption charges since President Dilma Rousseff took office are the tip of an endemic problem which experts say hobbles the country's bid for great power status.
National media and cinema routinely portray graft as a multi-headed monster, rearing its head in the political arena through kickbacks and influence peddling, but also in the form of state inefficiency and police wrongdoing.
But while it is ingrained in Brazilian history, corruption is currently of particular concern because it potentially threatens the country's huge investments to host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.
"We are a rich country, but with habits of poor countries," said Castello Branco, head of Open Accounts, a non-governmental organization fighting graft.
"The risk of corruption rises in proportion to the increase in the number of major (infrastructure) projects. The corrupt go where the money is."
Corruption is a key concern for the upper and middle classes but the world's sixth largest economy ranks only 73rd on Transparency International's latest annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), barely ahead of China.
The CPI scores countries on a scale of zero to 10, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10 as low levels. Brazil scored 3.8 last year.
Corruption costs the nation between 1.4 percent and 2.3 percent of its GDP, roughly $146 billion, according to the powerful Federation of Industries of Sao Paulo, which in December released one of the rare studies on the scourge.
The contrast between Brazil's economic prowess and its poor performance in reining in graft has been illustrated by successive resignations from ministers since Rousseff took office early last year.
The last to quit was the minister in charge of urban transport projects for the 2014 World Cup, Mario Negromonte, who resigned on Thursday.
Last year, Negromonte's office was charged with irregularities related to inflating costs on transport work in Cuiaba, in Mato Grosso state -- one of the sites of the tournament.
"The perception of corruption in Brazil has remained constant and rather high over the past few years," said Fernando Filgueiras, co-author of the 2011 study "Corruption and democratic control in Brazil."
He and other experts believe that official scrutiny has grown in the past few years but impunity often remains the rule.
"The oversight is better than in the past, but justice does not follow at the same pace," said Antonio Teixeira, an expert on the issue at the respected Getulio Vargas Foundation.
Despite the graft resignations, Rousseff completed her first year in office with a 72 percent approval rating -- higher than her predecessors Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Fernando Henrique Cardoso over the same period of time.
Polls also show that Brazilians appear happy with the country's upbeat economic prospects as well as with Rousseff's stance on corruption.
But in reality, Rousseff's government has to share cabinet posts with its coalition partners to secure their support in parliament.
So even though some ministers quit after being tainted with graft, their portfolios remain in the hands of their respective parties.
"If you add to this a private election campaign funding system with no effective control, you have fertile ground for corruption in the political system," said Filgueiras.
Brazilians also appear to be ambivalent on graft, according to his study.
"Brazilians today know that corruption is a serious issue with a negative impact on public life. Yet, they don't rule out helping a relative within the public administration if they had the opportunity," Filgueiras added.
